Fire-ladder



. 2 Sheefs-Shet 1.

No Model.)

I 0. B. HALL.

FIRE LADDER. I

Pate ted Mar. 26, 1895.

m FEYERS co Pnmaumm. wunwarou. D. a

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. B. HALL.

FIRE LADDER.

N0. 536,381. Pate nted Mar. 26, 1895.

1H: NORms PEIERS co. PHOTO LITHOW wisnmumu. n c.

Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSBORN B. HALL, OF MALDEN, MASSAOHITSETTS.

FIRE-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 536,381, dated March 26, 1895.

Application filed May '1, 1894. Serial No. 510,316. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSBORN B. HALL, of

' Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line or, m, Fig. 2, and viewed asfrom above said line. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, the section being taken on line yy, Fig. 3, and the view as from the left in said Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detached enlarged rear elevation of the ladder, and showing the method of ctpnnecting one of the hoisting ropes therewit v The object of myinvention is to provide a ladder that is mounted upon wheels and can be transported quickly to the scene of fires; that when halted in place can by withdrawing the evener bolt be raised into position by the advancing movement of the horses that draw the truck; and the same force that is used to raise the ladder into position will be employed to move the top section upward into place; and it consists in the devices and the combinations thereof that will be next herein explained and then defined in the-claims.

Referring again to the drawings, a, a represent the front wheels and b, b the rear ones. Said wheels at are arranged on front axle c and wheels 12 on rear axle d. The bed e extends from axle d to rocker f which is centrally pivoted to axle c. If desired, both axles c and d can be pivoted to the bed so as to admit of turning short curves, in a well known manner. Said bed 6 can be trussed as shown at g and to-the desired extent to render it sufficiently rigid for its purpose.

Upon bed e are raised the rear uprights h and the front uprights t'. Said uprights h are hinged to bed 6 and are supported by screw j on which is the centrally threaded hand wheel is that actuates standard l and thereby adshown at m and it is bolted rigidly to platen that is pivoted to standards h. Said section m can be guyed by rods q and when mounted on the truck its forward end extends a considerable distance in front of standards 2'.

The movable section of my ladder is shown at t, which fits between the sides of part m and at the top of m is the wider piece 2, be-

tween which and the rungs of part m part i of the ladder slides.

To the lower rung of part if issecured the hoisting rope 3 that passes up over sheave 4 arranged on bar 2 as shown, and thence it descends passing round sheave 5 and thence under sheave 6, and thence to drum 7 to which its end is secured.

A cord 8 is attached to rings 10 that fit loosely upon the ends of the sides of ladder m (see Fig. 6) and passes down under sheave 9 at the rear end of platform "e, and it passes thence undersheave 6, and to drum 7 to which it is secured. -If needed, in order to guide cords 3 and 8 onto drum 7 a fair leader sheave 11 can be employed. A rope 12 is wound upon drum 7 in a direction opposite to ropes 3 and 8, and its end is secured to said drum, so that when it is running off of said drum at the bottomsaid cords 3 and 8 will be passing onto said drum at the same point. Said rope 12 leads forward and is secured to evener 13, that is pivoted upon the pole 14. g

It will be apparent that when this ladder is drawn to the place where it is to be used, the driver has only to withdraw the bolt 15 on which evener let is pivoted, and to then urge the horses forward thereby drawing rope 12 forward and thereby rotating drum 7 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, thus drawing ropes 3 and 8 forward and winding them upon said drum, thereby raising both sections of the ladder and projecting section 1. upward. When the ladder is well but not fully raised the rings 10 by which rope 8 is attached to section m will slip therefrom and then the upward movement of the ladder will be continued by rope 3.

It will be seen that one revolution of drum LOC 7 will nearly or quite raise the ladder into place for use; and if it be found necessary ropes 3 and 8 can be arranged to wind upon a section of the drum less in diameter than that on which rope 12 is wound; or ropes 3 and 8 can pass onto drum 7 and rope 12 can be wound upon another drum that drives a pinion that meshes in a larger gear attached to drum 7.

A pawl 16 is secured to bed 6 to engage circular rack 17 secured to said drum, to hold the ladder at any point in its ascent.

It will be apparent that my ladder can be moved quickly into position and that the raising it into position for use can be effected almost instantly as the horses can be detached from the carriage in the time required to draw pin 15 from the evener, and then the horses can be urged forward to raise the ladder, which is quickly effected.

If desired a length of hose can be attached to section 25 and raised therewith so as to be in instant readiness when upraised to connect with hose leading from the hydrant or engine to the ladder, and for use in playing upon the fire.

It is apparent that divers changes may be made in the details without affecting the spirit of my invention.

Having pointed outthe nature of my invention, I will now proceed to claim it as follows, to wit:

1. The combination of wheel 11 arranged with its plane approximately in the vertical longitudinal plane of the carriage that carries the ladder, and mounted upon a fixed pivot arranged in the elevated frame h, 7z,j; and the ladder m rigidly bolted to said wheel and arranged to be elevated in a plane practically parallel with the longer line of the supporting carriage, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the lower section m and the upper section 25 of the ladder, cord 8 attached to sectionm and cord 3 attached to section t, both said cords being connected with drum 7, and thereby with evener 13, whereby the act of raising section at will impart an upward sliding movement to part '15, substantially as specified.

3. In a fire escape the combination with the section m mounted upon a fixed pivot and arranged to be elevated by an edgewise movement, in the longitudinal line of the supporting carriage,of the elevating cord8 connected with drum 7 and connected with rings 10 loosely mounted on the lower end of said section 122, for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of a ladder truck provided with the pivotal plate 01, a ladder secured to said plate, section 15 arranged upon section m, ropes 3 and 8 attached to said sections passing thence over sheaves 6 and 9, and to drum 7 to which they are attached, and a rope 12 also attached to said drum and passing thence to evener 13 to which it is secured whereby the horses by a forward movement can move said ladder to an upright position and can extend section If, as specified.

OSBORN B. HALL.

Witnesses:

T. W. PORTER, N. W. GREEN. 

